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After Amazon acquired Twitch—the video game streaming service—for nearly a billion dollars in 2014, it was obvious how important monetising the service would be.
Because as YouTube have demonstrated, monetising video content can be tough. Particularly when people can install a free AdBlocker in a few clicks.
Often the pursuit of revenue comes at the cost of poor UX. For example, ads almost always worsen the user experience.
So how does Twitch make money? And more importantly, do these revenue streams make the experience worse?
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How Twitch is similar to a fairground operator
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An example of the Anchor Effect
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De-risking decisions in CTAs
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When to use self-discovery onboarding

An aha moment isn't praise. It's the moment a new user recalculates what they'll get from your product. Twitch gave me a badge instead. Here's the fix.
Why praise isn't an Aha moment (and what is)
How "muddling" stops people finding your best features
Techniques for reducing the cost of trying something new

A behind the scenes look at how I redesigned the Built for Mars sign-up flow, and iterated from early feedback.
The two "obvious" fixes that did nothing
Why you shouldn't always force an input
Why limiting the user's choices can be beneficial

Hinge built its reputation on a single promise: it's the dating app that wants you to leave. This is a breakdown of how the interface is actually engineered to make sure you don't.
How dating apps keep you engaged (not romantically)
The design equivalent of clickbait headlines
How Hinge leverages social scarcity
The challenge for a navigation app isn't to efficiently show you the best route, it's to make you believe that you've found the best route.
How strategy influences design
Waze is cornered, and slowly shrinking
What Apple's strategy appears to be

From rat mazes to coffee apps: why the motivation to reach a reward increases the closer your users get to their goal.
How to use the Goal Gradient Effect
Spinning the flywheel of purchases
Why your rules need to be clear
Sometimes, the best onboarding is no onboarding, and simple products get bogged down with unnecessary explanations. This case study on Waitrose, Sainsbury's and Asda demonstrates when to just let the user try it for themselves.
Sometimes the best onboarding, is no onboarding
“Show, don’t tell” often beats education
Data can’t always tell you when onboarding is wrong